Towards a living practice

Making wholeness an infinite game

One of the joys of the German language is the specificity of it.

You might have heard of Weltschmerz (literally "world pain," describing the feeling of world-weariness or sadness at the state of the world) or Fernweh (the opposite of homesickness; a longing for far-off places you've never been). But what about Fingerspitzengefühl, which describes a "finger-tips-feeling”, a sort of intuitive instinct for things?

They are wonderful and jewel-perfect, but I’d like to introduce you to a phrase you might not be familiar with: Lebenspraxis.

It is the notion of a "life practice" that transcends the typical boundaries we place between work, creativity, and living. It's a philosophy that speaks to wholeness, to the integration of all aspects of life into a seamless, meaningful practice.

I've come to understand this idea through my journey as a designer, which in my early days was profoundly influenced by the Bauhaus.

But it wasn’t just the work of those famous artists, designers and architects that inspired me. It was the fact they cultivated a complete way of being.

Everything served the creation of art: music, movement, food, ritual. But more profoundly, art served life and life served art. This wasn't about optimisation or productivity; it was about wholeness in the deepest sense. What other goal could there be, as a creative person, or a person in general?

I would rather be whole, than good
— Carl Jung

In psychoanalytic terms, this pursuit of wholeness is about the integration of the self: bringing together the professional, personal, creative and spiritual aspects of our being that modern life often fragments. The Bauhaus wasn't just an art movement; it was a radical experiment in living wholly, in refusing to accept the artificial boundaries between different aspects of human experience.

Lebenspraxis is not about hyper-optimisation or productivity. Quite the opposite. It's about recognising that our most meaningful work emerges when we stop trying to separate our professional selves from our essential selves, when we acknowledge that our creative practice is inseparable from our way of being in the world. This is not the same as ‘do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’. It’s something much deeper, and my focus on Mortals is the best expression of that I’ve ever had.

I now recognise that my work – helping others embrace their mortality – is inseparable from my own journey. When we truly face our finite nature, life opens up in unexpected ways.

This awareness infuses everything: how I am with my daughter, the food I eat, the music that moves me to write and share.

Each thing increasingly flows into the next in a wondrous, chaotic, but vibrating cycle. Life feeds into death, allowing for renewal and rebirth, a dance of change and constancy.

Creating a living practice is itself a practice, one that grows clearer through its expression. By speaking it aloud, I hope to shine a light on this path not just for myself but for any of you that this might resonate for. We're all trying to figure it out, and there's profound comfort in knowing we're not alone in this endeavour.

Play becomes joy, joy becomes work, work becomes play.
— Johannes Itten

Lebenspraxis suggests that real fulfilment comes not from rigid compartmentalisation, but from allowing our work, creativity, relationships, and daily practices to flow naturally into each other.

For those seeking their own path to wholeness, it offers a gentler alternative: an organic, evolving practice where meaning emerges from integration rather than division.

So here’s to the year ahead, a year of Lebenspraxis.